Miss Independent
by Hikari-sama
Summary: Rukato songfic to Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent". Dedicated to all Rukato fans out there!


**A/N:** Please note that I do not own _ Digimon: Digital Monsters_, nor do I own the song "Miss Independent" performed by Kelly Clarkson @ _ American Idol_. I was just going over the reviews on my other story, 'Just Help Me', and didn't feel quite satisfied with most of the reviews I had gotten. So, to make it up to you, this fic is entirely dedicated to all Rukato fans out there, including; Dark Child, Flamegaruru, DigiDestined of Courage, digi_clow, Sora-World07, Shrub, Capri, Shinikami Dragon, Warwolf, SparkyKnight, Riskbreaker, Strawberry Dream, Black Mistress, babyflare, James Potter, and everyone else that voted for Rukato on my previous fic that are not mentioned above. This is a simple alternate-universe Rukato songfic (and please just pretend for a while that Ruki goes to a boy/girl school).

  
  


**--~*Miss Independent*~--**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"All right, Miss Makino!! This is the third detention you are getting this week! You have very much upset me!" Mr. Fujimoto stated. Makino Ruki rolled her eyes. "Oh, have I?" she asked sarcastically, "I thought I was upsetting the walls... Oops! You ARE a wall. _Bo_-ring!!!" she yelled at her math teacher, as his face burst red with anger. "OUTSIDE! NOW!" he pointed to the door leading the way out of the classroom. Ruki shrugged, as if that was the only thing she wanted to do, anyway. "Okay, okay... just stop spitting while you talk," she said, pretending to wipe something from her cheek. She headed out the door as the rest of the students laughed at her remark.

_**Miss independent  
Miss self-sufficient  
Miss keep your distance**_

Ruki leaned against the wall, crossing her legs as she chewed a wad of bubblegum. She patiently watched herself blow a pink-colored bubble from her mouth, as it then popped right into her face. Ruki had trouble getting the icky gum from her face, but managed to do it right. She sighed and told herself, _I love being me_.

_**Miss unafraid  
Miss out of my way  
Miss don't let a man interfere, no**_

She couldn't take it anymore. Ruki never knew that math would take so long. So she left, deciding to skip classes for the day. God, it was so boring. But who cared? Life was easy. She could do anything! The maroon-haired girl had a wide smile on her face as she trotted down the narrow hallway of her high school. "Good day," Ruki said to herself, "Good day for no school, no over-crazed teenyboppers, and no foolish guys!" This wasn't her first time skipping classes--she's had this experience before. This was her, Ruki Makino--Miss Independent. She could do anything she wanted! She has been named 'Miss Independent' ever since she was four years old. Ruki was so into her thoughts, so into her decisions, that she hadn't realized something. She had unexpectedly bumped into someone, that caused them both to fall down.  
"I'm sorry about that, miss. Here... let me help you," the guy she had bumped into had offered.

_**Miss on her own  
Miss almost grown  
Miss never let a man help her off her throne, so**_

The brownish-red headed girl groaned in anger. "Ugh! No... I can get up by myself," she yelled, standing up. "Boys!" she muttered under her breath. _They're always the same_, she thought, _Boys... they're all the same!_ The guy shrugged, and picked up his books that had fallen out of his hands.

_**By keeping her heart protected  
She'd never ever feel rejected  
Little miss apprehensive**_

"I just thought you might have needed some--"  
"I said _no_ already!" She gave him one short, fleeting glare.  
But instead of glaring back, the boy just... smiled at her. "Okay," he responded. Sure, everyone said that to her--no one ever dared to argue with her. But this guy... there was something about him. No guy, that she ever talked to, would smile at her as if it was actually _okay_ with them.  
With his books in his hands, he turned and left to his class. Ruki blinked and watched him leave. _Why did he just smile at me?_, she asked herself. "Um," she muttered. _He's leaving... what am I supposed to tell him?_, she thought. "WAIT!" she found herself calling the boy.

_**Said ooh, she fell in love...**_

He turned around, as his eyes sparkled... at least in Ruki's point of view. He walked back to her, back to the little girl who knew nothing about the massive world. He smiled. _Ohmigosh, he smiled,_ Ruki thought, _Again!!_ "Um, I... uh," she stammered. "I... I don't think I caught your name."  
The mysterious guy chuckled. "My name is Matsuda Takato. You're that Makino girl, right?" he asked. Ruki blushed. _Ohmigosh, _she thought, _he knows my name!!_ "Y-yeah," she said, "it's Ruki."  
"Nice to meet you, Ruki," Takato said. "Well, I gotta get to class now, so I guess I'll see you again someday," he told her as he turned his back to her, walking away. Ruki's eyes were now glowing stars. "Yeah... someday," she repeated, "Someday..."

**_What is the feelin' takin' over?  
Thinkin' no one could open my door_**

"Hey," Makino Ruki greeted her fashion-obsessed mother as she returned home from school. Ruki's mom looked at her in surprise. "Ruki, daughter, it's only two o'clock... what are you doing so early home from school?" Ms. Makino asked. "Oh, the--" Ruki began. Normally she would have made up an excuse, like, _Oh, the principal told me I could go back home early today, because of my well behavior at school_--which she did all the time when she skipped._ But why_, she asked herself, _Why lie? There is no point in lying... is there?_ She sighed.  
The guy she had met earlier--Takato Matsuda, she could not forget--was someone that would have never came to her before, like a gift from a deity from far above the sky. It was not quite possible to believe, yet it was the next best thing. The feeling was... so distinct. She looked at her mother... she looked so sure of herself, as if everything was going to go well, thinking, 'She probably won Best Student Prize or something'. But suddenly, her heart somehow led her to the path of sincerity. _But I don't want to upset her! Look how proud she looks_, Ruki thought. Frightened, she let out the truthful, the pure, the sincere words, "I... I... I skipped classes, mom."

**_Surprise...! It's time  
To feel what's real_**

Ms. Makino gasped. It could have been worse. "My very own daughter, skipping classes?!" Ruki's mom looked troubled. _What is it? What's so wrong?! Maybe I should have told them the truth in first place_, Ruki told herself. "But you usually come home early because of your well behavior at school," her mom added. Ruki looked down at the floor, ashamed of her old, foolish lies. "Which wasn't true," she admitted.  
Ruki's mother covered her eyes with her hands. "What have I done to you? What have I done to you, Ruki?!" she would mutter every now and then. "I... I'm calling the principal," Ms. Makino told her daughter, not able to face her. Ruki's jaw dropped. _No!_, she yelled in her thoughts. But her mother had already dialed the number to the school.  
"Yes, Mrs. Kawakoto? This is Ms. Makino speaking, mother of Ruki Makino. So they know she has skipped classes? _What_? Since when? Mm-hmm. My Ruki? My _Ruki_, getting detention? Are you sure? I never got a phone call from you before. Oh... I see. Uh-huh. Okay, thank you very much, she'll be returning in no time." With that, she hung up. "Ruki, you've had several detentions that you never mentioned to me before, and this isn't your first time skipping?"  
"Mom..."  
"Ruki, how come you've never told me anything about this before? I trusted you."  
Ruki hesitated. She thought about the time when she yelled at Takato. _I said _no_ already!_, she had shouted earlier, which suddenly became a huge piece of regret. She then responded, "I was stupid, mom. I didn't think." She didn't think before she had yelled at Takato, either.

**_What happened to Miss Independent?  
No more the need to be defensive_**

Her mother had dropped her off at school again, where she was found face-to-face with her principal. "Well, hello, Miss Makino. How are you doing?" the principal, Mrs. Kawakoto, asked. "Not so good," Ruki replied. Mrs. Kawakoto waited until she'd hear various rude remarks coming from Ruki, like, _Can I puke on your face?_, or something. But Ruki said nothing. It was like... a total change of self.  
"Not so good? That's it? Tell me something, Makino, I'm bored," Mrs. Kawakoto challenged, waiting for a lame response from Ruki. But Ruki only gasped. Mrs. Kawakoto narrowed her eyes. "What? What is it?" she asked, searching for any signs of stains on her clothing.  
But Ruki wasn't looking at the principal--she was looking behind the principal. It was that Takato guy.

**_Goodbye, old you  
When love is true_**

She wanted to wave at him, she wanted to go up and say hi to him, to smile at him, and most importantly--she wanted to see his smile again. Ruki looked up at her principal, wordless. "Makino... aren't you going to say anything?" Mrs. Kawakoto asked. _Boys!_, she could hear those words she'd always mutter in disgust, when she was younger. Ruki looked at Takato. _Takato is a boy_, she thought. "What is there to say?" she asked.  
Mrs. Kawakoto blinked in confusion. "Alright, Makino, what is the matter?"  
"Nothing is the matter, Mrs. Kawakoto," Ruki responded. "I would like to get back to class now." Mrs. Kawakoto sighed and admitted her into the school. "Remember, Makino," she warned, "I have cameras all over the school. If you insult the teachers one more time, I'm going to talk to your mother."

_**Misguided heart  
Miss play it smart  
Miss if you want to use that line you better not start, no**_

"Welcome back, Miss Makino," Mr. Fujimoto greeted. This was history period--Mr. Fujimoto taught both mathematics and history. Usually Ruki would say, _So what are we learning about today? The history of the lamest teacher on Earth? AKA, YOU!?_. But she smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Fujimoto," she said, and sat at her usual desk. Like Mrs. Kawakoto, Mr. Fujimoto waited for any signs of insults.  
But she didn't say anything.  
_Why do I feel like my life finally makes sense?_, Ruki asked herself, _Why do I feel like I've been a jerk all the time?_... She kept asking herself those questions, even though she already knew the answers to them.

_**But she miscalculated  
She didn't want to end up jaded  
And this miss decided not to miss out on true love, so**_

She looked at her history teacher, so confused at the way he was teaching. He looked so... helpless, as if he thought something wrong was going to occur. As if something very bad was going to happen. Ruki looked down at her desk, as she saw the words '_Miss Independent_' written on it, with red tint. Suddenly, she felt so confused in her own little world. She felt guilty, very guilty. Looking over at her teacher she thought to herself, _I should have never insulted you. You devote your life to teaching, to helping, to improving our lives... you deserve so much._ "I'm sorry," she muttered. _You show love to your students, and now I must show love to the world. Takato..._  
She grabbed a pen, and removed its cap. Ruki crossed out the words '_Miss Independent_' already written on the desk, then at the bottom, wrote, '_Miss Ruki Makino_'.

_**By changing her misconceptions  
She went in a new direction  
And found inside she felt a connection**_

It was stupid enough she had practically ruined her life, it was stupid enough she had practically ruined herself. She didn't know how to flip her mistakes upside-down, she didn't know how to cope with herself anymore.  
History class was over; and so was school.  
Ruki had heard stories before... real-life stories about how teenagers would commit suicide when there was a colossal error that they weren't capable of fixing. She shook her head. Suicide? No way. I've ruined my life, now I have to put it back together. I've already destroyed fifty percent of my life, and if I kill myself, then a hundred percent of my life will be destroyed. Ruki sighed. She couldn't understand why people did that, why people would suddenly kill themselves. True, she has made a number of people suffer before, but if she killed herself, the suffering would worsen. The answer to mistakes were to fix them back. She knew just how to do that.  
Matsuda Takato.  
"Hey, Ruki. Nice to see you again," he greeted, flashing her _the_ smile. Ruki smiled back. _He remembers my name_, she thought. "Hi Takato. I wanted to apologize about last time, when I yelled at you... I kind of wasn't thinking at that moment."  
Takato chuckled. "Thanks, Ruki. I like the fact that you came to me to apologize. That's very kind of you."  
Ruki blushed. It was also very kind of him to change her, to change her world.

_**She fell in love.**_

_I love you too_, she wanted to say. She no longer wanted to be alone anymore. She wanted his company, his pure encouraging company.

**_What is the feelin' takin' over?  
Thinkin' no one could open my door_**

He's a man like no other. Ruki looked right and left, watching everybody gather around with their friends; some leaving school, some just chilling. Men... they're not all the same. They're different. Takato is different.

_**Surprise...! It's time  
To feel what's real**_

"Hey mom," Ruki greeted her mother, her one and only mother, as she returned home with a visible bright smile on her face. Ms. Makino walked up to her, her arms disappointedly on her hips. "I hope you learned a valuable lesson today," she stated. Some people roll their eyes at that--but Ruki, this time, did not. Her mother had meant that statement, and she understood her error. She _did_, as a matter of fact, learn a valuable lesson, and she felt satisfied. Ruki nodded. "I did, mom, I did. Thank you."

_**What happened to Miss Independent?  
No more the need to feel defensive**_

__She sat on her bed, thinking... _I guess this is how I'm really supposed to be._

_**Goodbye, old you  
When love, when love is true**_

__She sighed now, looking at her reflection in the mirror... _He means everything to me... Takato_. He changed her; he changed her life forever. She wanted to change his, somehow, as well. _I'm Ruki_, she thought, _Ruki Makino. And I'm in love with Takato Matsuda._

_**When Miss Independence walked away  
No time for love that came her way  
She looked in the mirror and thought today  
What happened to miss no longer afraid?  
It took some time for her to see  
How beautiful love could truly be  
No more talk of why can't that be me**_

****Smiling, she took out a piece of paper and began to write whatever came to her mind. She was full of ideas, full of emotion, she felt free to do anything. _All because of one person..._

**_I'm so glad I finally feel..._**

Ruki nodded in approval at her now completed piece of work. It's amazing how she truly felt, and hoped, that maybe, just maybe... Takato might have feelings for her as well. Ruki, full of passion, began to sing the words;

_**What is the feelin' takin' over?  
Thinkin' no one could open my door  
Surprise...! It's time  
To feel what's real  
What happened to Miss Independent?  
No more the need to be defensive  
Goodbye, old you  
When love, when love is true...**_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**A/N:** So what do you all think? Personally, I kinda liked it. Educational--don't you think? LOL. Maybe I should write songfics more often. ^-^ Review!


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